


A Thimble Is Not A Kiss (And a horse shoe isn't either)

by Phrenotobe, stagprince



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Gen, Illustrated, OctoRose, fairytales - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 02:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1328044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phrenotobe/pseuds/Phrenotobe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/stagprince/pseuds/stagprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was known, as a general rule, that anybody wandering the forests should not step in a fairy ring; that mock-howling right back at the wolves in the distance was not wise, or really very fair to the wolves themselves, and that scratching off the bark on the shaded side of a tree was liable to bring trouble to the many things that travelled the woods. Jade did all of them, mostly to see what it did. A lot of the consequences were negligible or very dull sport.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oceangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceangel/gifts).



> Many thanks to my illustrators.

In a tiny cold town, overlooking a cliff to a brackish lake, left long ago by the receding tides of the sea, now far too far away from land, there lived a girl.

The girl did not live alone - she had her grandfather, and her cousin lived close by. She was thirteen, which was a very good age for anybody to be, and she longed for adventure. Nevertheless, with her grandfather ailing, and her cousin often taken up with his friend she was frequently left alone. So, in time, she began to explore the countryside, climbing the steep hills with strong legs and scaling the pine trees that grew close and smug together.

 

Her name was Jade, and she was an explorer.

 

It was known, as a general rule, that anybody wandering the forests should not step in a fairy ring; that mock-howling right back at the wolves in the distance was not wise, or really very fair to the wolves themselves, and that scratching off the bark on the shaded side of a tree was liable to bring trouble to the many things that travelled the woods. Jade did all of them, mostly to see what it did. A lot of the consequences were negligible or very dull sport.

 

Another thing that was not done was to visit the lake. There were no safety guards, no fences or signs of warning about what may lay within. No fish seemed to be present, even when a hapless person with rod in hand attempted to pull something from it. Their hooks were swiftly covered over with weeds, and that was all. Jade thought the water looked enticing. Smooth enough to reflect the moon like glass, the wind sometimes brought waves to it, cracking up the reflection on the surface. (It was probably best let alone what her grandfather thought of her being there so late at night.)

Jade liked to bring her books, and a torch, and sit on the high bank, thumping her heels in their solid boots rhythmically against the dirt bank as she read science and mathematics and pondered the logic within fairy tales.

 

It was on a night like that, with naught but the steady drum of her feet, the occasional ruffle of a page and the surreptitious crunch of a snack in between times - when she wasn’t completely absorbed - that she met her best friend.

 

“Excuse me,” a dry-sounding voice, female and young and clipped, sounded out from an area somewhere down near Jade’s left ankle. “I’ve been sent to ask you to leave.”

 

Jade looked around at the sound, her feet kicking the air for purchase as she drew herself up to stand. There was a splash, and then silence, and Jade was left feeling a little confused, but mostly curious. She waited, grasping one fingertip with the other to avoid a fidget, listening out for that voice again. The breeze blew, rousing the waves into little curls, but otherwise the water was silent and the night was still. She waited, then, for just a little longer. (For better data points.) The voice was no longer forthcoming, so she picked up her books, her torch, and her remaining detritus, and left.


	2. Chapter 2

Jade didn’t really talk about it the next day, though she yawned into her breakfast quite often. Drawing figure eights in her porridge, she thought a lot about the voice, the croaky timbre of it, and pulled a face at John passing by her window from safely inside her home. The walk to school was uneventful, aside from the frogs in the pond, which made her stop and think, and then made her late as she made sure that all the tadpoles got back to where they needed to be, safe and sound around the weeds. Then she was sent to wash her hands.

Jade would never cut school - there were too many things to be learned, some of which you could only suck up from that kind of atmosphere - but she did consider it, in the unisex bathroom that smelled strongly of disinfectant and artificial pine cleaner. It would give her time for other things, private things, and she could read that book she liked.

She took dinner at half past twelve, and though she was very fond of John, she did kind of want somebody new to talk to - somebody who wasn’t too cool to listen to her when she was being serious, and didn’t laugh things off. The afternoon was mostly dull, followed by an early dinner at her cousin's home; she ate quickly, replied when necessary, and left as soon as she could. She took her homework up to the lake, and solidly refused to do it while reading a story instead. She wasn't sure what that voice belonged to, but she was certain that Nuckelavees were very exciting.

“Are you here again?” the voice inquired down by her feet again, this time on the opposite side, “You shouldn't be.”  
Jade looked around for the voice's owner. It was daylight, so she fancied her chances, but as she thought it, there was a small splash and the sound of bubbles on the surface.  
Jade had managed to get to her belly and lay on the grass to look closer, but by that time the bubbles had all popped and there was nothing to be seen. She frowned, and rolled onto her back in frustration, staring at the sky. The clouds were shaped like fish scales, which was definitely pretty cool, and if she listened very hard and kept very still, she could hear the lapping of the waves on the lake.

“Are you still here?” the voice happened again, and Jade was jolted out of her reverie. She stayed still, and closed her eyes in the hope it would make it stay longer. There was another splash, this time a bigger one, and a series of suspicious and very close thumps. A dark shape came across Jade's eyelids, blocking out the sun. It waited, very patiently, and Jade held steadfast, fighting her eyelids to keep them closed.

The shape above her sighed, and Jade let out a breath she didn't know she was keeping. They stayed in companionable silence for what seemed like an age, but was probably only a few minutes. A drop of salty water splashed on Jade's nose, and she sputtered, opening her eyes.

Above her, although upside-down, was a face, belonging to a pretty girl. She had short, pale hair, held close to her head with a headband that seemed to be made of woven seaweeds of several different kinds. She had skin the colour of bubblegum, or perhaps a little darker, a midway mix between blue raspberry and the reddish pink of squashed strawberries, covered over in splotches. Her eyes, though, were lavender, and pale, and kind of unsettling when they stared, which was definitely now. Her hand was hovering over Jade’s face, about a foot away.

“Hi!” Jade said happily, lifting a hand to shake.

The girl's mouth ticked up at either side, not quite a smile, but moving toward it. She grasped Jade's arm, and gently pulled on it.  
“Hello,” she replied, and waved Jade's arm from side to side in her grasp, as though she was not quite sure what to do.  
Jade made a move to sit up, and the girl turned bright green all over, like summer grass before the sun dries it out. She shuffled backwards at an alarming rate, letting go of Jade and moving rather rapidly without really using her hands.  
“Wait!” Jade protested, still only half on her elbows, “Don't go, we've only just met.”

She raised herself to look properly at her new friend, who by that point was dangling half over the bank by their arms on their way back to the water, their lower body hidden. They looked suspicious and wary, the dark lines on her neck shifting and expanding like gill-slits for more air as a bright pink tongue slipped out to wet her lips.  
“Why should I stay?” she said levelly, her grip beginning to slip, ever so slowly.  
Jade reached for her without thinking, putting her fingers around her wrist and holding it tight. Her skin was smooth but not like Jade's, and strangely textured, and just a little damp.  
“Because I want to be friends,” Jade said, “And if you go, I won't give you this book.”  
It was not Jade's book to give, since it came from a library, but she was in need of a bargaining chip.  
“Why would I need that?” the girl retorted, though her other hand (The one not being held) was starting to give.

Jade cast about for a good reason.  
“To learn,” she said, “To find out new things,” she continued, “And to prepare yourself against Nuckelavees.”  
“I suppose that's fair,” the girl said, “If they ever do come back to this town.”  
Having read quite a lot about them, Jade's face pulled into a disturbed pout.  
“I hope not,” she replied.

The girl nodded, digging her fingertips deep into the earth to pull herself back up. She landed with a bump in an ungainly sprawl, rolling onto her hands and pushing herself up to match Jade's face.  
Her legs, Jade noted at the time with surprise, numbered far more than two. She was a lot more like a sea creature from her hips downward, a mostly-slack bundle of fat tentacles that she rolled into bunches to prop herself up with, smugly.

“You're taking this pretty well,” she commented, as Jade scrambled forward again, pushing her glasses further up her nose with a click, “You still shouldn't be here, though.”  
Jade nodded, reaching back without looking to grab the book and open it, offering up the pages to the girl.  
“Do you have a name?” she inquired.


	3. Chapter 3

  


 

“My mother called me Rose,” the girl replied, folding her arms. No longer green but back to her original lavender and purple, she waited for Jade to nudge up next to her, tilting her head to admire the illustrations.

“I can't read this,” she pointed out.

Jade thought that was frightful, and said so.

“I cannot read the languages of man,” Rose said, in that same dry tone that she'd first warned Jade in, “Nor do I want to. Read it to me.”

Jade gave Rose a level stare over the rims of her glasses.

“That's stupid,” she said, “And not wanting to learn new things is double stupid.”

 

They bickered on in such a manner for quite some time, with in-between half-hearted attempts at learning the alphabet, until the sky turned orange with the setting sun and Jade recalled that her grandfather would worry.

“Um,” she started, “Can I come see you tomorrow?”

Rose shook her head.

“No,” she said, “It's dangerous here. I'll come to you.”

Jade opened her mouth to protest, the book on the ground, and Rose reached forward, to grasp Jade's free hand. She knew what a handshake was by then, and gave it one with good vigour.

“You'll know it's me,” she said, reassuringly, ending the handshake with a squeeze before she dropped it, “I'll meet you after school.”


	4. Chapter 4

Rose's appearance at the school gates the next day gave the town a stir. She wore a winter coat in pale purple-pink, and her skin was a shade of brown with a smattering of much darker freckles across her cheeks and nose. Her eyes were still that same unearthly shade of lavender. Parents asked each other who she was, and a few asked her directly, but she stayed there until Jade's detention was done and refused to talk to anyone except a friendly black cat. It wound winsomely around her ankles and purred loudly like an engine, and she was very complimentary to it.  
“You said there would be books,” Rose murmured, slipping her hand into Jade's. That time it was warm and dry, and felt mostly like any other hand.  
Jade nodded, deciding to not explain why she was gone so long, in case it gave Rose second thoughts about coming back another day.

Despite the hubub that had stirred in town since her arrival, if her new friend wanted to read, Jade would get her a book. They went to the library together, first to the children's section, and then onward to the mythology section. Rose's fingers trailed over the spines as she wandered, sounding out the spines with Jade's encouragement. She smiled cryptically sometimes, at the names.  
Getting a library card was the next big task.

The man at the desk tapped through the menus to arrange Rose's card, and Jade found out her date of birth (A few days after hers) though the address was tricky.  
“You can't live there,” he objected, “That woman doesn't have any kids.”  
Rose shook her head.  
“It is definitely my address,” she said again and rattled it off by rote, the numbers and letters of the area code smooshed together into their own words.  
He entered it anyway, finally asking for her surname to complete the form.  
“Lalonde,” she replied.  
He scratched at the table with a fingernail, irritably.  
“You're messing with me, kid,” he said. Slamming the enter key, he printed it nonetheless.

They took two books; one about music, and the other about cats. As they exited, Rose's friend from the school gates met them, meowing loudly for attention and following them down the street. Rose held tight to the plastic, holding it in one hand and Jade's own in her other. She followed willingly as Jade showed her all the coolest places in town – the duck pond, with the tadpoles, the paddock with the horse that came over for treats, and the candy store; with the huge jars of bright candies, the sticks of liquorice and cinnamon, and the scale for measuring it all out. Jade thought that Rose looked way younger when she was in there. The wry squint to her eyes lifted off, the set of her mouth was tilted upwards instead of sideways or down.  
Jade rustled up some spare change to get a few small bags of delights, and they meandered further around town enjoying the air. Things were going well, and Rose managed to talk a little about her home, though she was incredibly vague. Her father was like her, apparently, and also lived in the woods around the lake. She could not explain what he looked like, or indeed what he was – that information was blocked to her, while she walked around like that.

At two in the afternoon, they sat in the gracious shade of a tree and started a friendly debate on the notion of extraterrestrial life; Jade was all for it, and thought they were far away, but Rose believed they lived underwater, and had arrived already. She couldn't confirm it, so it was a fair argument on both sides. Jade would have won, if Rose had not gotten spooked by something, scrambled to her feet, and hid behind the tree.

“I have to go back now,” she said, staring very hard at a woman in a pink scarf. Her fingers were gripping tight to the trunk of the tree as if she'd be washed away.  
Jade felt sad, but took her by the hand so they could walk back together. Rose's library books were still tucked under her arm, and the cat yelled, as if he knew where she was going. Jade didn't know a lot about cats, but she had heard that they were good at seeing magic. Perhaps to him, she still had the scent of calamari clinging to her, but either way, he padded along behind until they reached the last house before the forest. On the way, Rose gradually changed colour, and her palm turned damp and cold.

“I'll miss you,” she admitted, as she lowered herself one-handed into the water. Jade passed her the books, which she held to her body, the library card still grasped tightly in her palm. She gave Jade a long, stern look, as if she was fixing her face into her memory, and let go of the bank to submerge. Jade waited a little while, and watched the bubbles dissipate, before going home with a sad, heavy feeling in her chest.


	5. Chapter 5

The next week was much the same as it ever was in town before Rose came, but Jade, taking heed of Rose's warning, spent her evenings around town. The cat made friends with her, curling up by her side and purring, but hissed at John, and ignored everybody else. They sat together underneath the tree, and listened, and thought.  
Another long, dreary week passed. A book washed up downstream from the lake on Tuesday, waterlogged and missing pages. Jade got into trouble for it, and had to hang out of her window to pet the cat while she was grounded, telling him to be very careful and avoid her dog. She thought that Bec would take a very dim view of feline visitors, especially ones that didn't belong to anyone.

The other book appeared much later during autumn, a half-decayed and soggy mess that would have got Jade into trouble again if she hadn't found it first, and only recognized it by the remaining pages, full of cats and diagrams. She picked it up despite how gross it felt, and left it at the end of her garden behind the shed. The cat, who had by now made the shed roof their personal sleeping spot in the sun, seemed to purr all the louder when she dropped it there. She guessed that he missed Rose too.

By the end of November, nobody in town remembered the girl that Jade had spent a day with, which made thinking about her a little strange. It had been a dreamlike summer day, and with nobody but the cat to confer with, she wasn't entirely sure that she'd just made the day up while she was wishing for a friend. They enjoyed the last few warm days together, the cat purring, and Jade reading up on marine animals – just in case, though she wasn't sure when it'd come in handy – and shared sandwiches. Bec had been introduced to the cat and had a bit of sandwich too. They didn't get along that well, but would tolerate each other in her presence.

Jade's birthday came up right at the start of December, and she used her candles selfishly, asking to see Rose again. The cat wouldn't come inside, despite the snow, so she made a warm box for him to sleep in.  
She was with her grandfather in town a few days later when she saw Rose again, and her heart made a funny quiver, like fear and happiness had met and decided to become allies. She wished in the moments afterwards that it wasn't the case, but slipped away from his side to meet her, rolling up happily on her toes.  
“Rose!” she said happily, “My wish worked! I missed you.”

The girl startled, still bundled into her winter coat, mostly the same with her freckles and beautiful skin and eerie lavender eyes. Her hand uncurled, showing her library card.  
“Is this me?” she said, and Jade noticed the unclear look in her eyes, the way she wavered uneasily on her feet, that Jade had first thought was merely shivering in the cool of the air. Putting an arm around her for support, Jade took the card from Rose's hand, noticing how tight she'd held it. A card-shaped imprint was left in her palm, red at the edges. It was still the same card that the surly librarian had given her, though discoloured by water and ragged on one edge, as though it'd been scraped on something.

“Yeah,” Jade said warmly, taking off her own hat and putting it on Rose's head to help against the cold, “It's definitely you. How long have you been holding that?”  
Rose grasped for the card again, her arm moving slowly and uncertainly, missing Jade's hand.  
“Woha, okay,” Jade said, putting the card back in Rose's grasp, “It's yours.”  
Rose nodded, calmed with it in her possession.

Jade knew that Rose was different this time, though she looked the same, so she gently ushered her friend over to where her grandfather stood waiting.  
Jade's grandfather frowned as he saw her new friend, and asked a lot of questions. Most of them, Jade thought, were completely useless and dumb.  
He acquiesced to bringing Jade's friend to the house she'd been so definite about. The lady that had spooked Rose so much back in summer answered the door, gripping the doorframe tight and letting out a little shriek when the girl was presented to her.

It was touch and go for both of them for a minute; Rose was limp and mostly unresponsive, and the shock of it all was certainly giving the lady a waver. Jade promised to stay with them both until everybody felt better, and was led into the sitting room to wait.

The sitting room was dark, the blinds drawn to a crack of sunlight that spilled out in a rectangle on the carpet. There were soft cushions, white leather seats and knicknacks, and a chess set themed entirely around wizards The lady introduced herself as Rose's mother, and asked if Jade wanted any tea.  
To be polite, Jade said yes, but she really wanted to go upstairs and check on her friend. She said so, though not without trying to be nice about it. She knew that grownups were easily insulted if you talked to them directly about what you felt.

Rose's mom, who had another name, which was Roxy, gave Jade tea in a delicate pink cup covered in black cats that slid sinuously around the base. Jade listened very carefully, in case she could hear something upstairs, but everything in the house was very quiet.

Roxy started to thank Jade for finding her daughter, but Jade had a lot of questions, and eventually managed to ask them. The first one was that she had never met Rose before, and living in such a small place, she guessed that she probably should have. Roxy didn't know what to say about that, and Jade didn't either, so she ignored that part and asked what she really wanted to know, which is how her friend was kind of originally an octopus thing.

Rose's mom coughed a little into her tea, which broke the tension in the room a lot, and made Jade smile. Roxy went over to the window and opened the blind, and let the light fill the room. She stood there for a moment, looking out into the street, and sipping her drink. Jade scuffed the soles of her shoes on the carpet impatiently.

Roxy explained that she met a magical creature once, up by the lake, who would give her a baby to keep, forever and a day. Then she laughed, though it was sad, and explained that magical jerks have very different ideas of what forever and a day is, and the day after Rose's seventh birthday, she was taken away to live in the lake. Roxy trailed off then, and looked down at the floor, and called the magical jerk a very rude word. Jade agreed, and said it too.

Roxy said that she was glad that her daughter had made a friend. She hoped that Rose would stay this time, but she wasn't sure it would actually happen. Jade advised her to carry a big stick, so she could keep them away, but Roxy wanted Rose to go to school, and make friends, and be able to go anywhere she wanted without worrying. Jade nodded, and thought, and then an idea came to her.  
She said she was sorry, but she really needed to go, and finished her drink (So it wouldn't be wasted) and left, without asking again to see her friend.


	6. Chapter 6

First Jade went home, to write a very important letter in case something happened. She asked John to look after the cat, and to check on Rose, and to bring Bec some treats if he'd been good. She set out who would get her treasures, like her flute, and her seeds, and her squiddle plushes, which she had worked very hard to earn. As an afterthought, she crossed one out, as she would bring that one for luck.  
She took a thimble, because she thought it might be useful when dealing with magic things, and a torch in case it was dark, and a blanket in case it was cold, and a horseshoe because cold iron was a weakness to magical creatures, and everybody knew that. She also packed lunch, in case she was gone a long time. Signing the letter, so it was official, she tucked it under her math book, putting on her heaviest boots and leaving for the lake.

It was a winter afternoon, so the light was already growing dim. She thought that perhaps the woods were growing closer together, but she tried not to believe it in case the trees did too, and stopped her from getting where she needed to go. She stomped on some roots very firmly, just so they didn't get any ideas.

The lake was much the same as it always was, though something glowed warm orange-red on the far bank. It never moved, so she had to walk all the way around, while the sky grew darker and darker. Jade was not very happy about it, since she would be late home, and it was a very big lake.

The glowing thing turned out to be a boy, relaxing languidly on a piece of black rock that shined like glass. The rock was not far from the water, and he was looking down into it, with a funny expression on his face, like he was sad, and a little bit bitter. He glowed all the time, red like embers, and below the waist he had the body of a lizard, with four short feet to stand on.  
She thought he was kind of weird, and said so. Insulted and surprised, he raised his human body up angrily, like a snake.

Jade told him to be quiet, since he was obviously stranger than she was, and he complained, folding his arms and lifting his chin.  
“I'm not strange,” he retorted, “I am the most magical dude in this entire forest. Bow down and get your genuflect on, or I'll burn you with my sick fires.”  
Jade shook her head, tugging her backpack off and unzipping it. Feeling a little tired after all that walking, she sat down, and pulled out a sandwich to eat.  
The creature postured and groaned, flexing his puny arms at her. He didn't look much older than she was, and without the rock, he would have not come up to anything higher than her waist.

“Why were you sad?” she asked, because she was curious, and also because it seemed like the right thing to say.  
He paused, mid-flex, and lay flat on the rock, curling himself up with his tail tucked up by his chin.

“My friend isn't here today,” he said, “And she promised she'd come over and see me.”  
Jade nodded, and bit a chunk out of her sandwich to let him continue.  
He talked about how she lived in the lake, and they used to meet as often as they could, and her father disapproved of her knowing anything about humans, and threw away the books she'd taken from the town after he found them. He thought that was kind of uncool.  
Jade agreed, and offered him a piece of her sandwich. He took it, the tips of his fingers making wisps of greyish smoke come up from the bread. He tipped it down his throat, and crackled like a wood fire, curling back up with his chin on his arms.

“Thanks,” he said, yawning. Fire licked out from between his lips, and he finally smiled.

  



	7. Chapter 7

Jade told the him about the summer day, when she had first met Rose. She said that she was with her mother now, and the boy sighed, looking unhappy once again.  
“I think she's forgotten about the lake,” Jade offered, to change the subject, “If I could tell her about you, she might remember things.”  
The boy spat fire, setting a chunk of dry grass aflame. Jade went to stomp it out, and called him a rude word. He said it right back, and they would have come to blows, but she knew he would burn if he ever touched her, so she decided to say sorry instead. She asked him if he knew about why Rose was half an octopus sometimes.  
“Well,” he said, turning around on the rock to get comfortable, “Might be because our dad is only half human.”  
Jade didn't know what to make of that, so she stared at him, very hard.  
“Centaurs know plenty of magic business,” he continued, “All kinds of edifying glamour and abracadabra shenanigans. He's half way between two different things, you know?”  
The boy settled firmly on his two front feet, so he didn't topple over, and sketched a shape in the air with his hands.  
Jade shook her head.  
“That's pretty useless unless I can find him,” she said, “Rose doesn't remember anything! not you, or me, or even her own name.”

He pointed himself back toward the town and grasped the edge of the rock to lean. His glow was fading into grey, and he almost looked like a part of the rock.  
“Yeah, well, I guess,” he said, grudgingly. He went very quiet, and half-closed his eyes, and didn't say anything else.  
“If you're not going to give me clear answers, I'm going to shove you into the lake!” Jade said, because he was vague and it was dark, and she wanted her friend to be safe.  
His eyes opened wide, and he grasped the rock tight with his hands and lizard feet, his glow coming back in full. Jade squinted.  
“Woha, okay, wow, no, don't do that,” he protested, “Look, a name is a really important thing, especially for hot magical people. If she doesn't know it, she's at the mercy of people who do,” he said, with a pause for effect.  
“Oh my god,” she said, frustrated, “Which people?”  
Jade threw a clod of dirt at him to make him hurry it up.  
“Hey, quit it,” he said, and ducked unsuccessfully, “People who use a fae's true name against them can tell them to do whatever, and they can't even resist. That's some shit.”  
Jade agreed.  
“So if she doesn't know her own, and somebody told her to go somewhere, she'd be powerless to object?”  
The boy crossed his arms, thinking about it.  
“Well, like, magic is all about being precise,” he said, “If you leave a loophole in your plan, fae'll jump right in there and take your firstborn, or whatever.”  
Jade saw the logic in it.  
“So she's half human, right?”  
The boy shrugged.  
“Yeah. Just like me.”  
“Can you command yourself to be just one thing instead of two?” she asked, curious.  
The glow drained out of his face, starting at his forehead, and Jade shuffled back a little, in case he was going to explode.  
“My sister's going to be an octopus,” he said, with dread in his voice.  
Jade laughed until she realized he was being serious, and flicked another clod of dirt at him.  
“Well, all I have to do is make sure nobody can use her name against her,” Jade said, “And I'm certainly clever enough to know how to do that.”

She pulled the horseshoe from her backpack, holding it in a hand and giving it a little practise swing.   
“Oh, yeah,” he commented, “Centaurs hate horseshoes.”  
She grinned at him.   
He grinned right back, and flame licked from around his teeth.   
“I'll give you my name to say to her too,” he said, “If you wanna kiss me.”  
He leaned forward, gripping the rock, his mouth in an expectant pout.  
Jade frowned, She didn't really want to kiss anyone then, and certainly not him, so she reached into her bag and brought out the thimble.

“Here's a kiss,” she said, offering it to him.  
Rearing up so that he was towering above her on his rock on his last pair of feet, just a little unsteady, he batted her hand away with the side of his leathery palm. Then he fixed her with his best and sternest stare. Jade was reminded of Rose again, when she'd left to sink underwater.  
“That's not a kiss,” he pointed out, and Jade had to agree. But she wasn't going to kiss him herself, so Jade put the thimble on her finger and poked him with it, right at the point where his belly turned into scales, and he toppled over backwards into the water. It bubbled and fizzed, and she put away her things and left as quickly as she could.


	8. Chapter 8

Back in town she went to her home, and told Bec she missed him, and ruffled his fur and called him a good dog. Then she went upstairs, and put her letter into a drawer in case she needed it again.  
She had no idea when Rose might leave next - in a day, or in seven days, or in seven years, but seven months of waiting to see her friend again was totally unfair. She brought out the horseshoe and looked at it, and wondered why precisely centaurs didn’t like them.

Her first thought was that maybe they didn’t like them because they were for horses, and that perhaps she needed to put it on his foot. But wikipedia had a lot about centaurs, and apparently it wasn’t so hard to make them wear shoes. 

Jade’s brow wrinkled, and she considered the shoe itself. It was pretty heavy, and would probably give an monster a hard whack if she gripped it just right. The only theory left was that centaurs, like other magical creatures, didn’t much take to being beaned vehemently by a piece of cold iron.  
Jade supposed it might work if she snuck up on them, so she put it back in her backpack, and went downstairs to talk seriously to her grandfather.

He listened to what she said, though not without interrupting a few times. Jade tried really hard to be patient, and answered as well as she could. Then she raised the horseshoe.

“By jove,” her grandfather said, twirling his whiskers furiously, “To get rid of a critter like that you’ll need a great walloping hammer to put it on!”  
Jade was already pretty certain she had the situation in hand, but she thanked her grandfather anyway, and went to go find John.

He had just finished his homework and was conducting very serious business in his front yard. John stood up carefully so he wouldn’t disturb the intricate thing he had made out of sticks and bits of string. He brushed his hands clean on his shorts, and left a pair of muddy trails there. 

“Hi Jade!” he said, with a grin.  
Jade told him about the horseshoe, and about Rose’s mother, and finally about Rose, which took a lot more explaining than the other two things. John’s mouth popped open, and finally his jaw dropped into a perfect O.  
“I’ll get the hammer,” he said at the end, quick as anything.  
Jade grabbed for his shirt as he ran off and tugged on it to bring him back.  
“It’s for my doghouse,” she said, slowly and carefully, “The roof is broken. You’re helping.”  
He nodded, and she said it again. He repeated it, and Jade smiled.  
He ran for the house again, and Jade nudged at the thing he made. It started to lean, and she figured doing that again was a bad idea. She decided to be helpful, and made some important additions to make it stable, dusting her hands off after she was through.

She whistled for Bec as she left the gate, and he nudged up against her leg and snuffled. She patted his nose and asked him to help her find something. He let out a little wurr and lifted his head to sniff, and Jade was glad she had such a trustworthy friend. John came out of the house with the hammer, and waved. John’s dad had given him a pair of gardening gloves and a dust covering mask to put on, and he tugged the mask down to give her a smile. He gave Jade an optimistic hand sign and pulled a face. Jade laughed, then closed the gate after him. 

They went to Rose’s house, and Jade explained as much as she felt was useful. Rose was awake, but still not very easy to talk to. Jade decided that she was probably going to be safest with somebody who knew what was happening, so she told John to stall her Mom while she got her out of the door. She gave the horseshoe to Rose to hold, in case it helped.

John appeared a little later, with bagged sandwiches and a nervous grin. After discussion, they were put away for later, and they went about their business, shoulder to shoulder with Rose tucked into the middle.


	9. Chapter 9

Jade spotted the centaur before anybody else. He was standing in the paddock, patting the horse’s nose and talking quietly to him.  
His horse half was a golden blonde, and his human half was a dark, even tan, with freckles all over his shoulders and back. He turned his head to look around, his nose and cheeks speckled too. His eyes were a golden orange, and he gave the horse a last pat, resting his hand on their neck. He nodded at Jade, and his eyes settled on Rose. 

“Hey,” he said.  
Jade took a step forward, tugging John behind her, her hand still clasped in Rose’s.  
“Hi,” she said, a frown on her face.  
The centaur trotted away, turning his back, and John gave Jade an uneasy look.  
With another turn, the centaur galloped forward again, raising giant clods of turf as he leaped over the fence. He shook himself after he landed, lifting his hands to sweep his hair back into place. Imperiously tall and improbable, he folded his arms in a way Jade recognized, and she gripped Rose’s hand a little tighter.

“I want to bring her home,” he said, indicating Rose with a nod.  
Jade shook her head firmly. She looked back to her friend, who seemed very tired, and gave the centaur a stern stare.  
“Why is she so sick?” she asked, as John stepped just a little closer, to put his arm around Rose and hold her up.  
The centaur shook his head, and raised his hands in a shrug.  
“Rose Lalonde does not belong in this world,” he said, “Sucks, but that’s the deal.”  
Rose coughed abruptly, as though something was caught in her throat, and Jade stomped her foot.  
“Yes she does,” she said, starting to get angry, “Rose is my friend, and she can go wherever she wants!”  
The centaur grinned.  
“Rose Lalonde does not walk on two legs.”  
John let out a yell as Rose fell to the floor. Six long tentacles unfurled underneath her. He tried to lift her up again, but wasn’t strong enough.  
Jade’s eyes narrowed, catching on to his game. She balled her hands into fists.  
“Rose Lalonde is my friend,” she said again, “Rose Lalonde can walk if she wants to!”  
John squeaked in surprise, but Jade wasn’t looking.  
The centaur tapped at the road surface with a hoof, tilting his head as he thought. He smiled at Jade with his mouth, but not his eyes.  
“Rose Lalonde does not need human friendship,” he said, and Jade growled. Bec barked at the centaur, strong and loud.  
“Yeah, well,” Jade said, thinking quickly, “Rose Lalonde can have human friends if she wants them too!”

The Centaur took a few steps forward, his hoofs clicking on the road surface.  
“Rose is my daughter, and you will not keep her from me.”  
Jade put her hands on her hips.  
“Well maybe Rose Lalonde would like to stay with her mother for a little while to see if she likes it,” she said as fast as she could, “Rose Lalonde likes books. She wants to read them.”  
Rose mumbled something behind them, though Jade didn’t hear it. 

The centaur’s face grew grim.  
“Do you think this is saving her from something?” he said, “Rose Lalonde was happy before she met you. She will be happy after you’re gone.”  
Jade shook her head, looking back to her friends once more. John was keeping Rose propped up, though she looked much less sick and upset. He met Jade’s eyes and gave her a nod.  
“You don’t have to say things like that,” Jade said, “Just because you love somebody, doesn’t mean you get to keep them, and I think you’re scared.”  
The centaur fidgeted, his forehooves lifting and placing on the ground and his tail flicking against his body in an angry swish.  
“Are you?” Jade said, taking a step forward and letting Rose’s hand drop.  
The centaur looked away, his face drawing into a frown.  
Jade put her hands on her hips, and puffed up her chest to look bigger.  
“You’re being stupid, and making decisions for other people like that is really fucking terrible!”  
She really fucking meant it.

“To hell with this,” the centaur said.

The centaur walked forward, every step clipping loudly. Jade took a step back, and then another one, and reached for Rose’s hand behind her to grip it.   
“Rose Lalonde is a person,” Jade yelled defiantly, “And she gets to make her own choices!”  
Rose squeezed Jade’s hand, her fingers strong.  
“Help me up,” she croaked to John, and he put his arms around her, and lifted her up as well as he could. She balanced on two feet.  
“I am Rose Lalonde,” she said, her voice cracking, “Dirk Strider, go home.”   
She coughed then, and leaned forward, a hand on Jade’s shoulder.  
“I will stay with my mother as a human,” she said, “Forever and a day.” 

The centaur looked sad, though he didn’t cry, and he didn’t argue. He turned away and began to walk, his shoulders dipped and his hands loose and empty at his sides.  
“Wait!” Jade said, and slipped away from her friends. She ran to him, and, not quite knowing where to touch to get his attention, tentatively papped his arm.  
“Mr. Centaur,” she said respectfully, “Just because she’s staying here, doesn’t mean she can’t visit.”  
He gave her a look of disbelief, his eyebrows moving to meet each other over the wide bridge of his nose.   
“You don’t have to mess with me about this,” he said, “She’s made her choice.”   
Jade let out an irritated sigh.  
“Ugh!” she said again, for emphasis, “Stop being a jerk, she can go wherever she wants. We covered this, you know? I went to the lake when I wanted, I’m sure she can too.”   
He lifted an arm and scratched the short hairs at his nape.  
“I guess you have a point,” he said. “I’ve been a little hasty about this.”  
“Yeah,” Jade said, “But you’re learning.”

She gave his arm a quick pat, to show there were no hard feelings.   
“Yeah,” he replied, “But I gotta go. Magical compulsion and all.”  
She nodded, and let him go.

Jade stuck her hands in her pockets, ambling back to her friends with a really huge grin on her face. she waited patiently until Dirk was out of earshot, and let out a loud, happy cheer.  
Rose tipped forward, and Jade caught her in a tight hug. John joined in too, though he was growing old enough to not want any. 

“Forever, right?” he said, “That’s a really long time.”  
Rose sighed, her breath warm and unbearably ticklish against Jade’s ear.  
“Not as long as you think,” she said. Jade’s heart did another weird, painful flop. 

Rose had to go home, as she’d had a lot of excitement for one day. Jade promised to visit, and so did John, though he ended up visiting only half as much as Jade did. Rose rested in bed for most of the rest of the week, and her legs stayed firmly in a pair, with even more freckles dotted around her knees and right down to her socks.

“I bought you a new book,” Jade said on thursday, “Since the other ones were all gross and kinda useless for that whole reading thing.”  
She gave Rose a big encyclopaedia, so that she could read up on things and get up to speed before school came back. She’d enter in spring, though from how she spoke, she seemed to know just enough about things already.


	10. Denouement

For the next seven years, Rose and Jade went to school together, and laughed together, and argued together, and had a lot of things to say about any number of important points of view. They were never far apart, though they didn’t really talk about what happened with the lake. If Rose ever went to see the centaur, she never mentioned it.

  


Early in December when it was a crisp and fresh day, and a little after Jade’s birthday, Rose came to her home, and knocked on the door. They were both very much older, though perhaps not wiser. Rose waited, a little impatiently. She brushed down her coat, purple-pink and neat, and planted her feet firmly on the welcome mat so she wouldn’t fidget.

Jade answered the door, quite surprised.  
“Oh hey Rose,” she said, “It’s your birthday tomorrow, right?”  
Rose nodded, her face very serious.  
“I wanted to spend some time with you,” she said, her left foot turning awkwardly in.  
Jade reached out, to hug her and pull her inside.

They sat quietly in the front room, their voices unusually silent. They both knew what day it was, and what the next day was, and the day after that too.  
“Jade,” Rose said, to break the silence, “I was thinking about the lake.”  
Jade nodded, and got a little closer, getting up out of her seat and coming over to sit on the chair arm. It was something she shouldn’t really do, but she did it anyway, because Rose looked really nervous.  
“Hey,” Jade said, “I was thinking about it too. It’s nice up there.”  
Rose looked down at her lap, and Jade put a hand on her shoulder.  
“We can go there today if you want,” she offered, “It’ll be cold, but kinda nice.”

Rose looked up, surprised.  
“Are you quite sure?” she said, like she didn’t believe it.  
“Yeah,” Jade said, giving Rose a reassuring shoulder squeeze, “Just let me get my coat and stuff, I’m not doing anything else right now.”

It was decided, and Jade led Rose through the trees to the lake, the old way she used to navigate, the summer that they met.  
“Don’t forget to stomp on the roots,” Jade said, “So they know not to mess with you.”  
Rose laughed, a hand covering her mouth, but did as she was bid.

They went to the far side of the lake, where the rock was, and Jade told Rose about how she’d talked to the boy with fire in his mouth, and then pushed him into the lake. Rose laughed, but then grew a little quiet, and leaned to look into the lake depths.  
“I wonder what happened to him,” she said quietly.  
Jade didn’t know what to say, so she kicked a stone from the grass into the lake. A black bird settled on the rock, unafraid and watchful. Rose regarded it with a long stare.

“Thank you,” Rose said, turning to face Jade. Her hand rested against the rock, gripping the edge, and Jade started to wonder what happened to him too.  
“I’ve been meaning to say that for a while,” Rose added, “But as you know, deeply emotive and honest phrases are not my forte.”  
“That’s okay,” Jade said, “I’m sure you meant it before anyway.”  
Jade took a step closer, and another one, until she was very close to Rose indeed.  
“I think I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while,” jade said plainly, her hands curling up into tight, nervous fists.  
Rose leaned back against the rock, but her hands reached out to grasp for Jade’s. Her thumbs found the edge of her fingers, and eased them out straight.  
“Well,” she said, “Perhaps this is the right time.”

Jade nodded, and pushed her glasses back up her nose with a little click.  
“Okay,” she said, and inclined forward to kiss her.  
Rose’s mouth was soft, a lot like the most incredible thing in the world, but mostly that was Rose. Her hands slipped away from Jade’s grasp, but soon found another place, nicely at her waist, and Jade’s arms found right where they needed to be too, right on Rose’s shoulders.

They paused when they realized they had quite forgotten breath, and Jade gave Rose a nervy, happy smile. She got one in return, a coy one, with a glint to match in Rose’s eye.  
“I love you,” Jade said.  
“I love you too,” Rose said, and looked left and right, as if she thought somebody might be watching.  
“I’m glad you do,” Jade said, her brow wrinkled with relief.  
“I’m staying,” Rose said, “It is finally decided upon.”  
She gave Jade another smile, one that was nervous but definite. Her hands lifted to touch Jade’s arms, sipping down to her wrists and resting there.  
“I’m really glad about that, too,” Jade said, rolling her eyes with bemused belief.  
Rose nodded.  
“That time when you said I could do anything I wanted,” she said, speaking slowly and carefully, an eye on Jade’s face, “I know what I wanted. And I’m glad we’ve been friends so long-”  
Jade nodded, slipping her hands around to catch Rose’s and lift them up closer to her face. She admired every freckle, and then nudged up a little closer.  
“Yeah,” she said, “That’s awesome, but can we kiss again?”


End file.
